DrewryNewsNetwork is saddened to hear the Beastie Boys rap group member succumbed to cancer and passed away. He was around, along with an array of other rappers, such as LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash, Kool Moe Dee, George Clinton, Afrika Baambaata, The Fat Boys, and others, when Def Jam founder Russell Simmons was just starting the music company, back in 1979.